1. Make a ball a little larger than a golf ball with fondant. Try to mold it into a more oblong shape-this is going to be the shape of the body. The ones I make are usually about 2 and 1 inch wide. It's OK if they look "chubby".

2. Make a ball half that size for the head. Depending on what I am going to do, I will use a veining tool for the eyes and mouth a nose. If your animal is a girl, make eyelashes above the eye holes.

3. For the legs, roll out 2 sausages, about an inch long and a little thinner than your index finger. Do whatever width looks right-for elephants I make very chubby legs, and other animals will be thicker. Use your own judgment.

4, For the feet, I flatten one end of the sausage and thin it out into a circle, the size of the tip of my finger. I will also use the veining tool to make little marks in the feet for giraffes and elephants-for cats I make tiny little pink pads out of fondant.

5. Do the same thing for the arms, only shorter and thinner. Use your own judgment to keep things in proportion.

6. For animals that have hands(monkeys), I made the hands separately and then attach them to the ends of the arms. For animals with hooves or paws, I make them the same way I do the feet.

7. For face details, I will use pinpoint size balls of black fondant for eyes, and also different colors of fondant like pink for the noses. Sometimes I will use an edible marker for eyelashes and eyes and mouths.

8. Make the ears. This part is very easy, but for the elephant, cut out a very thin oval from fondant, then gather one end to "bunch" it up, to where you will join it to the head. For other animals, embellish with some pink fondant to make it look more like ears. For an elephant's nose, make it the same way as the legs, only much smaller. Use the veining tool to make nostrils in the trunk.

9. For a lions mane, I roll out orange gumpaste and cut out a small circle with a fondant cutter. I then cut the circle again, to make a crescent moon shape. Next, I take an exacto knife and make the moon jagged. I make three of these and then place it behind the ears of the lion.